Clamping attachment for earrings



Jan. 26, 1954 v, MOSLEY 2,666,973

CLAMPING ATTACHMENT FOR EARRINGS Filed May 31, 1952 INVENTOR. MABEL 1/ MOSLEK Patented Jan. 26, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLAMPIN G ATTACHMENT FOR EARRINGS Mabel V. Mosley, Los Angeles, Calif. Application May 31, 1952, Serial No. 290,964

1 Claim.

My invention relates to earrings of the type which are fixed to the lobe of the car by screws. Earrings of this type as now manufactured are diificult of retention on the ear without so tightening the screws as to lacerate or otherwise injure the tender skin of the ear lobes, as well as to cause great discomfort to the wearer. These disadvantages stem from the fact that the head of the clamping end of the screw provides only a small bearing surface which tends to penetrate the ear lobe, and since it is fixed to the screw it turns against the skin of the lobe as it is brought into clamping engagement therewith, thereby twisting the skins.

It is a purpose of my invention to provide an attachment for earrings of the screw clamping type by which an earring may be quickly, inexpensively and effectively converted into one which permits the ready and secure clamping thereof to the ear lobe so as to prevent accidental displacement and possible loss of the earring.

It is also a purpose of my invention to provide an earring attachment which is designed and adapted to afford a clamping head for the clamping end of the screw that presents a relatively large bearing surface to an ear lobe so that when brought into clamping engagement therewith it cannot injure the skin or create any discomfort to the wearer, and the mounting of the clamping head rotatably on the screw so that it cannot rotate as it is brought into clamping engagement with the lobe to twist and possibly injure the skin of the latter.

A further purpose of my invention is the pro vision of an earring attachment providing the advantages above set forth, and which is readily transferable from one earring to another so that where a woman has several sets of earrings of the screw clamping type, she can use a pair of the attachments on any set.

I will describe only one form of clamping attachment embodying my invention, and in association with one form of earring, and will then point out the novel features thereof in claim.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view showing in perspective a screwtype earring having applied thereto one form of clamping attachment embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevational view of the attachment in the process of being applied to the clamping screw of the earring, with the latter shown in section.

Fig. 3 is an elevational Fig. 4 is a vertical line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of the attachment taken from the opposite side to that shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the spring clip of the attachment.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the attachment showing it applied to the earring screw.

Referring specifically to the drawings, in Fig. 1 I have shown a conventional screw-type earring having a setting l5 for an ornament l6, and wherein the setting is constructed to provide a clamping head 11. To this head is secured one end of a U-shaped wire frame 18, the other end of the frame having a clamping screw [9 threaded therein. The outer end of the screw is formed with an operating head 29, and the inner end with a fixed clamping head 2| which under adjustment of the screw inwardly is caused to cooperate. with the head for securing the ring to the lobe of the ear.

The attachment of my invention comprises a disk-shaped member 25 preferably formed of metal and of a diameter greatly exceeding that of the clamping head 2!. The attachment also includes means for attaching the member 25 to the screw I9, and this means in the present instance comprises a wire spring clip 25. The 6 member 25 is best shown in Fig. 7 as being constructed of thin sheet metal inturned at its periphery to provide at one side of the member an annular channel 27. The disk portion of the member is formed with openings 28 shown in Fig. 5 and arranged in circular concentric series. These openings allow circulation of air between the member and the skin of the lobe lessening skin irritation.

As best shown in Fig. 6 the clip 26 is constructed from a single length of resilient wire bent to provide a pair of curved gripping arms 29 between which is a circular loo or eye 30 having an entrance opening 3! through which the screw Hi can be extended as will be more fully described hereinafter. As seen in Fig. 7 as Well as Fig. 5 the arms 29 are co-planar, while the loop or eye 39 is disposed in a plane paralleling that of the arms.

The clip 26 is applied to the member 25 by contracting the arms 29 to a position in which they can be inserted into the channel 21 as illustrated in Fig. 3 to position the loop 30 axially of the member and in spaced relation thereto as illustrated in Fig. 7. It will be understood that the arms 29 expand into the channel 2! so as to securely hold the clip in proper position on the member.

To apply my attachment to the earring shown in Fig. 1 or to any earring having a similar clamping screw, the member 25 is presented edgewise to the screw 19 and the clamping head 2| in the manner illustrated in Fig. 2 so that the screw is opposite the entrance opening 3! whereby, upon forcing the member in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2, the screw will operate to spread the entrance opening 31 sufficiently to permit the loop 30 to pass around the screw. In this position the attachment is mounted on the screw as illustrated in Fig. 7 with the loop 38 loosely embracing the screw at the rear side of the head 2! so that the screw can rotate relative to the member 25.

When applying the earring to the ear, the lobe is interposed between the head I! and the member 25 whereupon the screw i9 is adjusted to bring the member against the lobe so that the heads I? and 25 coact to grip the lobe and thus secure the ring on the ear. Since the diameter of the member 25 greatly exceeds that of the head 2 I, it provides a clamping head with a large bearing surface which will not only securely retain the earring on the lobe but will not injure the skin of the lobe or create any discomfort to the wearer. In bringing the attachment into ear clamping position, the member 25 does not rotate when in contact with the lobe so that the latter will not be twisted during the clamping operation.

Since the majority of earrings as now manufactured are of the form shown in Fig. 1 without any attachment, my invention is attachable to any such earring which one may have in her possession to provide the clamping advantages above set forth, and it also may be transferred from one earring to another so that where a woman has several sets of earrings she can use a pair of my attachments on any set of earrings. The spring clip afiords ready detachment of my attachment from an earring for application to another, it being necessary only to force the screw 19 outof the loop 39 when the member 25 is detached from the screw.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of earring, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the spirit of my invention and the spirit and scope of the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A removable terminal member for a headed securing screw of an earring comprising a disk of an area greatly in excess of the cross-sectional area of the screw and the head thereof, said disk having an unobstructed front surface and having marginal portions extending rearwardly and inwardly and defining an annular channel extending entirely about the periphery of the disk and open along its inner side, and a clamping member carried by said disk and consisting of a strand of resilient wire bent intermediate its length and providing a screw-receiving eye having a side opening at a point about its circumference and disk engaging arms, said arms being arcuate longitudinally and fitting snugly within substantially diametrically opposite side portions of the channel, there being portions of the strand curved longitudinally and extending between and merging into the arms and the eye at opposite sides of the opening and defining an expansible throat for the opening, the last mentioned portions of the strand being curved away from the disk and supporting the eye in a plane offset from the plane of the rear surface of the disk and thereby allow the screw to be forced laterally through the throat and into the eye with the head of the screw confined between the eye and the rear surface of the disk.

lViABEL "J. ll/IOSLEY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 53,331 Pickett Mar. 20, 1856 53,471 Pall er Mar. 27, 1866 269,383 Caldwell Dec. 19, 1882 540,943 Block June 11, 1895 1,296,552 Pejchar Mar. 4, 1919 1,403,802 Mayr Jan. 17, 1922 1,774,033 Myers May 14, 1929 1,781,997 Berezowski Nov. 18, 1930 2,324,803 Snyder July 20, 1943 2,417,117 Marcus Mar. 11, 1947 2,423,535 Welter July 8, 1947 

